The snow is flying and soon, gear will be flying off the racks at the 51st Annual Park City Ski and Snowboard Swap Nov. 3-5.
The Park City swap is one of the largest in the west. If you have items to sell, equipment drop-off will be Oct. 30-Nov. 2 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at JANS or Cole Sport on Park Avenue, and the Skullcandy offices at Kimball Junction. Park City Ski and Snowboard Club collects 30% of sale proceeds to support its athletes and programs; the other 70% goes to the seller.
Jason Lance is the Alpine junior program director and said consigned skis are always the hot-ticket item. There will also be five major vendors selling last year’s new skis, snowboards and cross-country gear.
Ticket pricing and timed entry details are available at ParkCitySkiSwap.comand Lance said there is a new way to get free entry.
“We have partnered up with seven restaurants out in the Kimball Junction area this year," said Lance. "And if patrons go in there Nov. 1-5, and they spend $50 or more, they will receive a coupon for free entry to the swap either Saturday and Sunday.”
Participating Restaurants are Hearth and Hill, Park City Brewing, Vessel Kitchen, Bartolo’s, Sushi Blue, Maxwell's and Red Rock Brewing. Also, shoppers can receive free entry on Sunday if they bring a canned food item to benefit the Christian Center of Park City.
Gear to avoid at drop-off includes equipment older than five years, gloves, mittens, hats, goggles, helmets, base layers or loose bindings. And if you think the ski swap is a great place to get rid of your backcountry avalanche airbag, think again.
“A lot of the avalanche bags have rechargeable canisters in them," said Lance. "But we try to keep those out of there just so nobody decides they're going to set one off and walk around like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man through the ski swap.”
And let’s not forget that the swap is not only a place to shop but to be seen.
“People want to see people–it’s a great community event," said Lance. "And hopefully the cold temperatures come in and we'll start seeing all the resorts and Utah Olympic Park start pumping snow here. We’re getting people fired up for the ski and snowboard season.”
And if it's anything like last season, it will be a year to remember.
